1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a portable computer, and more particularly a structure for mounting an auxiliary device in a portable computer.
2. Related Art
The physical structure of a portable computer such as notebook is considerably different from that of a desk top computer to allow for its portability. A conventional portable computer comprises a system body and display panel. The housing of the system body is provided with a keyboard assembly. Mounted in the housing is a motherboard connected to an audio board. A hard disk drive is also mounted in the housing as an auxiliary device. A bracket is used to mount the hard disk drive. To this end, the bracket is attached to the hard disk drive by means of screws connected to two opposite sides of the hard disk drive. The bracket is finally fixed to the bottom of the housing by means of screws connected to bosses. Thus, many screws are required to mount the hard disk drive in the conventional portable computer. Four screws are necessary for attaching the bracket to the hard disk drive, and an additional two screws and needed for fixing the bracket to the bosses. This makes it very inconvenient to insert or remove the hard disk drive.
The following patents each discloses features in common with the present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,547 to Francovich et al., entitled COMPUTER CASE HAVING SLIDABLY INSERTABLE DRIVEHOUSING WITH U-SHAPED MOUNTING BRACKET HAVING INWARDLY PROJECTING PAINS ON TWO OPPOSED LEGS, issue don Oct. 27, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,949 to Johnson, entitled HARDWARE MOUNTING RAIL, issued on Sep. 15,1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,159 to Johnson, entitled HARD WARE MOUNTING RAIL, issued on Nov. 4, 1997, U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,527 to Hager et al., entitled SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR DISK DRIVES UTILIZING SHEAR LOADED ELASTOMERIC SUPPORTS OF DIFFERENT DUROMETER HARDNESSES AND ELASTOMERIC PADS, issued on Oct. 31, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,431 to Siahpolo etal., entitled SYSTEMHA VING U-SHAPED ACTUATOR AND HANDLE WITH CAM SURFACES FOR MOUNTING COMPUTER HARD DRIVE OR THE LIKE, issued on Jan. 2, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,348 to Oros, entitled MOUNTING ASSEMBLY FOR COMPUTER FLOPPY DRIVER REQUIRING NO TOOL FOR REMOVAL FROM COMPUTER, issued on Jan. 16, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,955 to Taesang, entitled CAGE IN COMPUTER EOUIPMENT FOR LOCKING PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT THEREWITHIN USING HOOKED LOCKPINS, issued on Apr. 23, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,237 to Ogami et al., entitled PORTABLE ELECTRONIC APPARATUS HAVING REMOVABLE HARD DISK DRIVE INCLUDING AN EXTERNALLY OPERABLE LOCK MEMBER, issued on May 7,1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,226 to Katoh etal., entitled INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND DEVICE ACCOMMODATED THEREIN WITH MECHANISM FOR LOCKING A COVER, issued on Jun. 11, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,804 to Gonzalez etal., entitled DISK DRIVE BRACKET, issued on Oct. 15, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,879 to Spano et al., entitled MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR COMPUTER HARDWARE COMPONENTS AND METHOD, issued on Dec. 24, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,501 to Ho, entitled SLIDING CASE MOUNTING DEVICE, issued on Jan. 21, 1997, U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,080 to Ho, entitled SLIDING CASE MOUNTING DEVICE, issued on Feb. 4, 1997, U.S. Pat .No. 5,668,697 to Dowdy, entitled DATA STORAGE MODULE HAVING CRADLES ON HOUSING AND ELASTOMERIC MEMBER MOUNTED ON DATA STORAGE MECHANISM, issued on Sep. 16, 1997, U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,293 to McAnally et al., entitled SCREWLESS HARD DRIVE MOUNTING IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM WITH A CHASSIS VIA A FIRST BRACKET RIGIDLY MOUNTED TO THE CHASSIS AND A SECOND BRACKET MOVABLY MOUNTED TO THE CHASSIS, issued on Oct. 21, 1997, U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,099 to Radloffetal., entitled COMPUTER WITH AN IMPROVED DISK DRIVE MOUNTING ASSEMBLY, issued on Jun. 16, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,211 to Astier, entitled FIXING PIECE FOR DATA STORAGE DRIVE AND OTHER UNITS, issued on Aug. 4, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,644 to Brunel et al., entitled MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR MOUNTING EITHER OF TWO DIFFERENTLY-SIZED SUBSYSTEM UNITS, issued on Jul. 13, 1999, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,208 to Kato et al., entitled TERMINAL DEVICE AND MEMORY DEVICE-FASTENING MECHANISM, issued on Aug. 24, 1999.